It's been an
interesting on-screen progression for actress Rachel Nichols.

She started off as
a timid profiler for the FBI in the short-lived "The Inside."
From there, she joined the ranks of the CIA, where she got to dress
up and take down criminals in "Alias." A bow-and-arrow-wielding
Nichols then jumped out of a helicopter and rode a motorcycle through
Paris in pursuit of Cobra as part of an elite military unit in "G.I.
Joe."

Now, she's going
back in time to stop terrorists from changing the future
in Syfy's "Continuum" (Mondays, 8 p.m.)

Is it a love of the
badge that motivates Nichols? Well, sort of. Of her assorted law
enforcement roles, Nichols says, "I like to carry guns and kick
butt."

"I think there's
something really strong and sexy about those female roles, and there
aren't necessarily a lot of those around," she says. "I consider
myself very lucky to've been able to take on so many of those roles
and to now have a fanbase that finds me completely believable and
interesting in those powerful, action-oriented roles, because they're
so much fun to play and I would like to keep doing them for a long
time to come."

Her wish should
come true with "Continuum," which has all the makings of catnip
for Syfy Network viewers (think action-adventure, cool costumes, even
better gadgets and time travel).

The story begins in
the year 2077. Looking to escape a death sentence - and change
their world - members of the terrorist group Liber8 escape and
travel back to 2012. Nichols character, Kiera Cameron, a devoted City
Protective Services officer, gets swept up in the time jump, and
finds herself 65 years in the past.

Though desperate to
find a way home, Kiera knows she can't let Liber8's plans succeed, or
her world will cease to exist. Posing as counter-terrorism expert,
she joins the Vancouver Police Department to use its resources to
track down and stop her enemies.

"My whole goal is
to get home, to get back to where I'm from," Nichols said. "I
don't want Keira to be wallowed in the sadness of missing her family
in every episode, but she's gotta think about them at least once in
every episode because that's her driving force. She may realize and
understand that she's probably in 2012 for a purpose, but that never
for one second means that her No. 1 goal isn't getting home."

The first season of
"Continuum" has already aired in several global TV markets,
including Canada. The series has been successful in finding and
maintaining an audience - something rare for a science fiction show
these days.

Writer and
Executive Producer Simon Barry said he built the cast around Nichols,
a former model who has also starred in "Criminal Minds" and in
J.J. Abram's reboot of "Star Trek" (she was Uhura's colorful
roommate).

"It was really
exciting. I've never been the first person hired on any job ever
before," Nichols said. "I loved all of the characters from the
very beginning, and they just immediately started casting Liber8 and
the rest of the police force, Inspector Dillon (actor Brian
Markinson) and Eric (Knudsen, who plays Alec Sadler) up in Vancouver.
I met Victor (Webster, who stars as Kiera's partner, Carlos Fonnegra)
for a chemistry read and that was the first time I'd ever had the
opportunity to do a chemistry read with someone who'd be playing my
partner, confidant and leading man. All the guys that came in and
read were great, but Victor was far and away my first choice, which
he knows now so I'm not talking out of turn at all. I knew who some
of the Liber8 characters were, but I didn't do any chemistry reads
with them, so I just sort of showed up on set the first day and met
everybody and thought, 'Wow, they've assembled such an impressive
cast of characters that there's no way the show isn't going to work.
It'll have to because everybody is so great.' It's one of the more
interesting groups of people I've ever seen cast all at once, so the
fact that's it's part of a show that I'm on was great."